The Grenier Ascension- 6b (Wendy,Denise,Sonny,Eve)

Denise crept through the mansion, then the garden, sure that any second she'd be stopped and questioned.  It was true what she'd said, that most of the Greens tended to ignore her as nothing; just Billy's toy and food for the Count.  But this was the first time Denise had relied on that attitude for her own ends, and she was surprised when she made it to the side gate undiscovered.  Three O'clock.  Almost on the dot there was a quiet tap at the gate.  Denise unbolted and opened it; an unfamiliar man and woman stood on the other side... no Wendy.
But the man's words settled her momentary panic.  "I'm Sonny; I'm a friend of Wendy.  This is Eve."
"Where's Wendy?" Denise asked.
"I got her to stay behind; she was pretty dead on her feet."
"That couldn't have been easy."
"Chat later," Eve interrupted.  "Where's your other friend?"
"Still in her room.  It's guarded."
"Leave that to us," Sonny said.  "Just lead the way."

As Sonny followed Denise's threading path through the estate garden, he could see the same trembling exhaustion in her body that he had in Wendy, Lexi and Vicky.  Denise was a stranger, not a friend or a patient, but even so he could feel his growing ball of hatred for the Count. Sonny didn't know if destroying this book Wendy had talked about would kill him.  But he hoped so; he hoped it would condemn him to a slow starvation.
"It's this way into the house," Denise said as they reached a side door.  "Most of them are out or busy; I guess even evil cult families need jobs.  But we still need to be careful."
Sonny nodded; he and Eve followed Denise inside.

The interior of the house was half-palace half-museum.  Everywhere she looked Eve could see expensive decorations and artworks; but nowhere to hide if they ran into anyone.  Denise led them to a narrow staircase that ran upward between wood-panelled walls.  At the top, it turned sharply and opened into a hallway that ran what must be the whole length of the house, doors and archways on one side, windows on the other.  Eve glanced out of the window; the view stretched across the estate garden all the way to the gate, and the three cars coming through it into the driveway.
"Denise," she said.  "That convoy out there; is it normal?"
The other woman looked out of the window.  "No," she replied; "they should be out for a couple more hours."
"They're onto us," Sonny said.
"How?" Eve asked.
"I don't know, but somehow.  Denise; where's Criss's room?"
"It's round to the side," she said.  "We-"
"We won't have time," Eve interrupted; the cars were already halfway to the house, and if they were returning, the people inside the house would be alerted too.

Denise stared at the blonde, willing her not to have said what she just had.  "I'm not leaving her."
"I didn't say leave her," Eve replied.  "You, Sonny, go.  Get out, let them see you, distract them.  Tell me where to find Criss and I'll get her."
Denise shook her head; "That's leaving her," she said.
"And you," Sonny added.
"Don't argue with me.  Sonny, they've been to your house, they know who you are; if they see you, they might assume you're it and not look for me.  But you have to go now."
Denise felt sick, but she couldn't see another chance; trying to ignore the wrench in her heart at leaving without Criss, she gave Eve the directions she wanted, then turned back to the staircase.

Sonny followed Denise down the staircase, telling himself every moment to turn back and help Eve; he'd been the one to drag her into this mess, and now he was going to leave her to face God knew how many people alone?  But she was right; dividing the approaching force was the only way any of them would get out of here, and Sonny was the one they knew about.
He and Denise made no attempt at stealth as they ran back toward the side door.  As they reached it a woman's voice from behind them called for them to stop, but he didn't bother turn or look.
They'd made it only a few yards through the garden before the woman was calling out where they were.  At least the distraction part of the plan seemed to be going well; he just had to hope Eve was having similar luck.

Eve peeked round the last corner she'd have to turn before making the run toward Criss's room.  As Denise had said there was a woman on guard outside the door, though from her attitude Eve guessed her job was prevent Criss from getting out rather than anyone else getting in; and if anyone in the house was expecting a possible intrusion, it looked like they hadn't bothered to tell her.
Another woman's voice echoed up from the ground floor, though Eve couldn't make out the words.  The one on the door glanced up, then sighed and sank back into her boredom.
Eve chose then to make her move, a dead run down the hallway, closing with the woman before she had a chance to call out; Eve grabbed and spun her, locking her arm round her throat in a sleeper hold.  It would only last a few seconds, but that was enough time for a couple of punches to make sure she stayed out for longer.  Eve opened the door and dragged the unconscious woman into the room.
The blonde girl in the bed looked tiny in her nightdress.  Her hands were bound to the headboard; Eve dropped her cargo and went to free them.  "Criss?" she said.  "I'm Eve; Wendy sent me, I'm here to help you."
No response.
Eve shook her a little; "Criss?" she repeated, a little louder.  "You have to wake up."
Nothing.  What the hell had they dosed her with?
A sound outside the door.  A man's voice, "Susan, where are you?"  The door handle turning.  Crap.

   ****

Wendy tried to stay tense as she watched the sleeping forms of Niella, Vicky and Lexi.  It should have been easy; they were in danger every second they slept under the influence of the Greens' drug.  But the stillness of the room, the rhythm of their breathing, and her own days' worth of exhaustion combined to push her toward sleep.  After the first half hour, she could tell she wasn't going to be able to keep herself awake without something to do.  She got up and went to the bookcase, but while the academic volumes there would probably excite Niella, Wendy suspected they would be of little help keeping her awake.  The desk on the other hand... Niella'a laptop was switched on, and a brief glance at the screen told Wendy that it could access the outside net.  A little snooping into the Green family would keep her mind occupied and dispel the nagging feeling that she was staying safe while her friends fought.

It didn't take her long to discover that the family was a associated with family-held company:  a publishing house of all things; though maybe that wasn't so strange given a supernatural ancestor who lived on via a book.  Most of them worked there in one capacity or another. Births/deaths/marriages:  at least the rest of them didn't seem to be immortal... most of them were single, only a few marriages... to wealthy women... who frequently dies of illness... fed to the Count; the whole sick family was just like him, taking and feeding on women to sustain itself, protected by money and class.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sound behind her, like choking, but only lasting an instant; it was gone by the time she'd turned round. For a moment, Wendy couldn't see what might have caused it; then it registered:  Lexi wasn't breathing.

Fuckfuckfuck... Wendy scrambled out of her seat, almost tripping as she reached Lexi... WhatdoIdo; CPR... she pulled the girl's limp boy off the couch, wincing as she hit the floor heavily... Nononofuckno... Wendy placed her hands over Lexi's chest and began to pound down on her... Onetwothreefourfivesix... when she reached thirty she bent down to breathe two hard breaths into the girl's mouth, only then realising she'd been speaking her thoughts aloud.  Another thirty compressions, another two breaths... then another panicked thought running through her mind; she looked over at Niella and Vicky, but both were still breathing.  Back to Lexi... thirty... two...  Pleasepleaseplease...

The prostrate girl let out a cough, followed by shallow breaths.  Wendy let herself fall backwards, a wave of dizzy exhaustion battling her relief... then the cold feeling as she saw that while Lexi was breathing again, she still wasn't stirring.  Wendy pushed herself back forward and shook Lexi gently.
"Wake up, girl; you're safe again, you're out of there."
Nothing.  As if she were comatose.

Niella, Vicky; were they?  Wendy stumbled around Lexi, almost landing on Niella as her balance rebelled.  She put her hands on the psychiatrist's shoulder and shoved hard; her legs went weak with relief and Niella's body jerked and her eyes opened.
Niella mumbled something, but Wendy blurted over her.
"It's Lexi; she's alive but I can't wake her up, you have to help her!"
Leaving the doctor to process her words she turned to Vicky, grabbing and shaking the redhead until her eyes opened too.  That was it; Wendy had done as much as she could for them, and she let her own depleted body fall to its knees, barely aware any more of the others' movements and voices.

   ****

It didn't take long before Denise heard the sound of running feet behind her and Sonny.  She tried to pile on the pace, but the effort made her stumble, and the energy flooded out of her body; it was all she could do not to collapse.
"Come on."  Sonny's voice broke into her spinning mind.
But it was only one step before the effort of putting one foot in front of the other made her dizzy.  "Sorry," she whispered.
"Put your arm over my shoulders," Sonny said.  "I-"
It wasn't going to work, she wante to say; their pursuers were too close.
Sonny seemed to come to the same conclusion.  "Wait here," he said, putting her against a tree she could lean on.

Sonny turned to face the men chasing them.  Three of them; none called out for reinforcements, which he hoped meant there weren't any, rather than them already being on their way, or elsewhere looking for Eve.
"It's him, from the hospital," one of them said to the others.
"Where are Darryl and Sam?" another asked.
The question was so unexpected that it took Sonny a moment to connect with with the Darryl who'd attacked Niella in Sonny's house; presumably Sam was his partner.  "They fell down and hurt themselves," he replied.
The man snarled and lunged forward; fair enough, they were all family.
Sonny dodged to the side, grabbing the outstretched arm; he used the shift in momentum to kick at the second attacker's balls as he closed. His foot struck home and the man doubled over with a squeal.
Rather than try to wrench his arm loose, the first man aimed a punch at Sonny with his free hand.  Sonny ducked away from the blow and caught his wrist with his own free hand; he twisted again, crossing the man's arms over each other and sending him off balance.  He pushed harder, shoving him the ground and landing heavily on him; from there, Sonny would usually pin someone, but this time he let go of one wrist to take the man's hair and slam his head into the paving.
Where was the third one? he thought before an arm snaked round his throat.  But it only tightened for a moment loosening again as the third man let out a pained grunt.  Sonny leapt up and turned to see Denise standing behind the attacker with a rock; before the man could react, Sonny launched an uppercut into his jaw, followed by a kick as he fell.
The second one was straightening back up; Sonny sent another kick into his head, sending him back down.
He wasn't sure how long any of them were down for, but this wasn't the kind of fight he was used to; time to get moving again.

Sonny took Denise's arm again and draped it over his shoulder.  With his help she found it easier to turn her stumbles into something approximating a run.  More shouts sounded quickly from behind them, whether it was the men who'd attacked them or others who'd arrived. But the pursuit was slower to come after them, and they reached the gate before anyone else caught up.  Sonny bundled her into the passenger seat of his car, before running round to the driver's side.
"Thankyou for the help," he said as he started the engine.
"Thankyou for the rescue," she said.  For a second she blacked out, sensing the stone and cold of the castle, before the car's movement shook her awake.  "Is anyone following us?"
"I don't know yet.  I hope so."
"Because if they following us they're not there with Eve and Criss?"
"Exactly."
"Where are we going?"
"I work at the mental hospital.  Wendy's there.  Erm, I mean she's... she's not..."
"I get it."  Sonny's verbal tangle broke through Denise's terror and tension and she started to laugh for the first time in longer than she could remember.

   ****

"Susan, what are you-" the guy was saying as he came in.  His words cut off as he saw Eve.  She spun into a kick, connecting with his solar plexus, then scissored a second into the side of his head as he doubled over.  As he dropped she checked out of the door; alone, fortunately, a second one would have been too far away to take down before he could shout for help.  She made sure the newcomer was unconscious, then returned to Criss; she lifted the girl's limp form over her shoulder and turned toward the door.
Fuck, the book.  But there was no way to carry it except in her hand, and she was going to need both of her hands to get her and Criss out of here.  The book would have to wait.
She could hear voices outside the house; hopefully that meant they weren't in the house.  Or they'd have sent more than one guy to Criss's room.  Tightening her grip, she headed into the hallway.